Dipti Bondre’s exhibit employs patented technique that uses light to convert a single painting into three completely different artworks.

At Dipti Bondre’s upcoming art exhibit, you may be forgiven for thinking that your eyes are playing games with you. Using a process that she has successfully patented, the artist has created paintings, using lighting and layering tricks, that can appear as three different artworks, when they are, in fact, only one.

"The most important aspect of this work is that I’ve used light. All the canvases are lit from within. I have used that to get three variations of the image on the same surface," explains Bondre, adding, "The paintings are created using layers, so with change in lighting, you see different sets of layers."

The artist claims that she’s always wanted to introduce the concept of light in her works. She began her experiment by using thin canvases against sunlit windows to see the effect, then moving on using light bulbs to illuminate her work: “As I went along, I realised you can actually expose core layers and work with layers on top. For example, by using reflective colours like white and gold on canvas, only the core layers show.”

Taking us through the light and dark process, she explains, “First, you see the painting reflecting ambient light. In the second stage, you add light from within and finally, you switch off the ambient light and view the work in the dark.”

Bondre’s exhibit is titled The Third Dimension, and features ideas that she’s derived from yoga: “I get these images in a deep state of meditation. From an esoteric point of view, to me, they represent Shiva and Shakti.”

How it works* Stage 1: View the work as a normal painting reflecting ambient light.* Stage 2: View the work in ambient light as well as light from within the canvas.* Stage 3: Switch off the ambient light and view the painting in the dark.